Stalking the Vampire by Mike Resnick Page B

don't deny that you're the most powerful demon on the East Coast.”
    â€œDeny it?” said the Grundy. “I revel in it. And this, of course, is my busiest night of the year.”
    â€œI find that odd,” said Mallory. “I'd have thought that on a night when every ghost and ghoul and creepy-crawly in the city is up and around doing your work for you, you'd be home relaxing, maybe drinking a beer and watching a football game.”
    â€œWould you stay home if Flyaway was running?” shot back the Grundy.
    â€œTouché,” admitted Mallory. “You know why I've summoned you here, of course?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œYou know who killed the kid, also of course?”
    â€œCertainly. Nothing happens in my domain that I am not aware of.”
    â€œYou want to make my life easy and tell me?”
    â€œMaking your life easy isn't part of my job description,” said the Grundy.
    â€œWell, I had to ask,” said Mallory. He checked his watch. “I hate to kiss and run, but I don't want to be late over at the Garden.”
    â€œYou won't be,” said the Grundy, making a mystic sign in the air with his right hand.
    â€œWhat did you do?”
    â€œI have frozen time for the rest of the world,” answered the demon. “It will proceed as normal in here, between the two of us. For everyone and everything else, it has come to a halt until one of us leaves the room.”
    Mallory studied the Grundy, frowning. “Why?”
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    â€œYou've already said you're not going to give me the name I want, so why freeze time at all? Why not just vanish in a puff of smoke like you usually do?”
    Suddenly the Grundy shifted his weight uncomfortably. “A whim.”
    â€œBullshit,” said Mallory. “You're a creature of pure logic. You don't act on whims.”
    â€œAll right,” said the Grundy. “As strange as it seems, given that we are mortal enemies and it is my destiny to kill you in the end, I find that I enjoy your company.”
    â€œShould I be flattered or terrified?”
    â€œYou are the one person in the world who is totally unafraid of me,” said the Grundy. “That is part of your fascination for me.”
    â€œWhy should I be afraid of you?” responded Mallory. “Hell, I've even done a couple of jobs for you—the Quatermain Cup and that old Chinese guy with the pegasus.”
    â€œI know,” said the Grundy. “No one else in the world would have done it.”
    â€œMaybe you should try paying them instead of terrifying them.”
    â€œIt is my nature to terrify things.”
    â€œI thought it was your nature to bring balance to worlds,” replied Mallory. “At least, I've heard that song and dance often enough.”
    â€œIt is,” said the Grundy. “Where I find order, I bring chaos, and where I find chaos, I bring order.”
    â€œSounds good,” said Mallory. “You ever actually found any order, or are you still looking?”
    â€œYou see?” said the Grundy. “That is another reason I enjoy your company. You keep me on my mental toes.”
    â€œWhy don't you thank me for all that by telling me who killed the kid?”
    â€œThat would contradict everything I am,” said the Grundy, almost apologetically.
    â€œSo you won't, or you can't?”
    â€œI can't.”
    â€œI feel sorry for you, Grundy,” said Mallory.
    â€œFor being the most powerful being within thousands of miles?” said the Grundy, surprised. “Why?”
    â€œBecause if I want to do something silly, or foolish, or boneheaded, I can do it. Even if it is clearly against my best interest, if I make up my mind to say or do it, I can. And that means I have more free will than you.”
    â€œHow can you, if I am the more powerful?”
    â€œPower isn't everything,” said Mallory. “An elephant can kill a lion, tear down a